


Standby

by mollynoble



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Meet-Ugly, Veteran Bucky, Veteran Clint, brief mention - anxitey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:06:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9530807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollynoble/pseuds/mollynoble
Summary: Clint and Bucky meet when they become trapped in an elevator. Clint is an idiot, but Bucky likes him anyways.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to [field day](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6431434) and my entry into the WinterHawk Mini Bang.  
> [Here ](http://torii-storii.tumblr.com/post/157839332049/i-just-gotta-say-you-dont-really-look-like-a) is some amazing art by [Torii](http://torii-storii.tumblr.com/).

With a burst of speed Clint managed to duck into the elevator just as the doors were closing. He collapsed against the back wall, panting a bit from the dash inside. Considering how badly his morning had been going so far he hoped making it onto the elevator was a sign things were turning around.

“Nice.” Clint turned to grin at the other man he now stood next to “I made it.”

Bucky purposefully did not look up, not when the man barreled into the elevator or when he spoke. He kept his eyes on his phone and continued to stare at the email he had open. He didn’t really needed to read it since he already had the information memorized, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to check the details one more time. More importantly he was resolved to force himself to concentrate, and through the power of his will keep his anxiety and hypervigilance under control. Today was important and he needed to have his shit together, accomplishing that did not include chit-chat with random men in the elevator. 

Clints smile only wilted a little at the other man’s indifference. He was determined to see this moment as a change in fortune, from here on out his day was going to go exactly according to plan. He wasn't going to let being ignored by some guy, even if he was a hottie with magnificent cheekbones who looked unfairly good with his stubble and suit, stop him.

It was at this moment, as the two men reflected upon their resolutions to have a successful day, one through willpower and the other with optimism, that the elevator they both stood in came to a shuddering and unplanned halt. The light flickered as the mechanisms groaned before stopping completely and the lights shut off and a red emergency light clicked on. There was a grim silence before Clint broke it. 

“This can’t be happening.” He made the statement as if by saying it it would in fact change the undeniable reality that they were now trapped in a dark metal box some unknown but significant distance above the ground. Bucky decided getting out of this predicament took priority over reassuring the stranger, he stepped forward to push the open doors button multiple times, but to no avail. 

Clint tipped his head back with a groan. “Aww, elevator no.” There was another silence in which Bucky came to the conclusion that he was somehow cursed.

“It's like I’m cursed.” This time Clint muttered under his breath but Bucky heard him clearly in the quite. He was startled to hear his thoughts spoken aloud by the stranger and so he finally turned to fully look at the other man. The red light was enough to observe he was of his height, that his short hair stuck up in every direction and that the suit he was wearing fit well but was rumpled with a large coffee stain down the front of his shirt. He also happened to be strikingly good looking. Bucky noted all of these things and stored the information away in the back of his mind, but the main thing he observed was the gash on the man's forehead.

“Do you know you're bleeding?” Bucky asked.

“Huh, oh yeah, uh... my morning has been a little rough.” His hand came up to feel the cut, and he winced when his fingers brushed against it.

“Careful,” Bucky stepped into his space and reached up to cradle the man's head in his hands, “let me see”. Taking a closer look at the injury, tilting Clint’s head up into the light to see the cut better.

“It doesn’t look like you’ll need stitches.” Bucky concluded. 

“Small mercies I suppose.” Clint said, becoming flustered at the unexpectedly intimate position they were in and hoping his rapidly spreading blush would not be noticeable in the red light. It wasn’t often he found himself this close to such actrative men, close enough to kiss, and he hopped his coffee breath wasn't too bad. And as if pulled by his thoughts the man’s eyes dropped from his forehead to his mouth. Clint’s body decided today was a day of full betrayal because it was a hundred percent against his will when he responded to this by pulling his bottom lip between his teeth with a clearly audible inhale. 

Bucky’s eyes shot up to Clint’s before he abruptly released his face and stepped back. Another silence descended over them, this time thick with tension and neither man seeming able to break the eye contact. It was Clint who gave in first, his eyes darting to the floor before returning to Bucky's face.

“So what do you suppose we should do now about the whole trapped in the elevator situation we're in? Like call for help maybe?”

They both reached for their phones, but before either of them could unlock their screens a harsh ringing sound startled them both. Simultaneously they moved towards the panel of buttons where the ringing was coming from. Clint reached forward and popped open the hatch to reveal a red emergency phone.

“Nice!” Clint turned to grin at Bucky, who reached out and picked up the phone and put it too his ear with a ‘hello’. Clint watched and waited while someone on the other end spoke to Bucky for a minute and he told whoever it was that there was two of them trapped but that they were not in any immediate danger. 

Then Bucky said “copy that” hung the phone back up and closed the panel.

“So?” Clint asked

“They said there is a power outage, the whole block. The building has a generator but the shortage caused a problem with the elevators, their fixing it now but it could take a while.” Bucky explained.

“Alright, now what, sit and wait?”

“I guess, there's nothing we can really do from here, we should standby until they get here.” Bucky responded with a shrug.

“Okay dokay” Clint plopped down on the floor, leaning against the far wall and stretching out his legs. “What you wanna talk about?”

“Talk about?” 

“To pass the time, we could be here hours. Dude, sit down and chill out, there's nothing we can do.”

Bucky sighed and mentally conceded the stranger was right. He sat down across from the other man, admittedly a tad more cautiously than Clint had. 

“So, I’m Clint.” He paused, clearly giving an opportunity for Bucky to respond but when he failed to do so he prompted him “and you are?”

“Bucky.”

“Hello Bucky, that’s an interesting name, got a story to go with it?” Clint’s question was met with silence and a glare.

“I mean come on, there has to be an explanation for _Bucky_ , not that there is anything wrong with Bucky, like I think it’s great, I am totally jealous.” Clint was babbling a bit, trying to backtrack, realizing too late it probably seemed like he was making fun of Bucky’s name and that was not a good way to start this conversation if he wanted it to end in getting Bucky’s number.

“My parents used my middle name when I was a kid, which is Buchanan, my best-friend called me Bucky when we were in kindergarten and it just kinda stuck.” Bucky explained with a sigh.

“I just gotta say you don’t really look like a Bucky man.”

“I haven’t really used it in years.” He admitted. “My first name didn't really matter when I was active duty, the other guys just called me Barnes and that worked, that was fine. But now that I'm back home, I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to figure out who I am now and something familiar seemed good. You know?” He ran his hand over his face with a shrug, looking a bit sheepish.

“Yeah man, I totally get that, it make sense.” Clint nodded “Wait Barnes as in James Barnes?” He asked sitting up straight.

“Yeah” Bucky answered, his voice showing his confusion.

Clint laughed. “Well nice to meet you James Barnes, I’m Clinton Barton.” He scooted forward and held his hand out to shake. Bucky’s face cleared with comprehension as he reached out and took Clints hand.

“Oh! Hi.” He couldn’t help but smile and he definitely enjoyed the too brief clasp of hands before Clint returned to his lean against the wall.

Suddenly Clint checked his watch “Jesus! Are you seriously an hour early for your appointment? Like I get 15 minutes prior for 15 minutes prior but an hour seems a bit much.”

Bucky shrugged “I didn't want to be late.”

Clint just chuckled again. “Well you're definitely going to be late now.” He said with a smile and a gesture at their situation.

“Yeah, well I guess it'll be okay cause I'm pretty sure the guy I was supposed to be meeting with isn't going to be there either” Bucky replied.

“That's not very surprising, he's pretty much late to everything. But since we’re here, I obviously don't have your file or my computer or anything but” he shrugged “we can at least...” He trailed off with a vague hand wave before finishing with a professional smile “What can I do for you?”

“Oh well mostly I just need to figure out how to get a job. I went to TAP and all that but it’s been a year since I got out and I spent it in my mom's basement and just going to physical therapy. And honestly I didn't pay that much attention in TAP when I went. I’ve never actually applied for a job you know, enlisting doesn't really count. But I'm ready to get back out there, I just don't really know where to start.”

“That's great! And exactly what we're here for! Fucking awesome man.”

Bucky he couldn't help but laugh at Clint's enthusiasm.

“Like, obviously there’s shit all I can do for you right now in this elevator but if we ever get out of here we can totally start a job search for stuff in your skill-set and get your resume written. You've obviously got the professional look down on your own. There's really only one problem.”

“Oh?” 

“Yeah I'm going to have to recommend you see someone else in the office. I'll get you hooked up with Natasha, don't worry she's amazing she'll get you sorted no problem.”

“Why?” Bucky drew the query out in his confusion.

“Oh well you see we're not really supposed to date clients.” Clint delivered this with a grin. Bucky threw his head back and laughed.

“You're awfully sure of yourself.” He said, grinning.

“Self confidence is the key to success” Clint declared “I saw that on a poster once.” 

Bucky laughed again, he couldn’t recall a time recently when he’d laughed as much as he had trapped in this elevator with this disaster of a man.

“Well, I admire your confidence, so you have that in your favor.” Bucky conceded, making Clint’s grin grow even larger. It was then, the two of them grinning at each other like idiots when there was a sudden lurch and the elevator dropped down. No more than a few inches but more than enough to send both men to their feet in alarm.

“That is not good.” 

“No, no it is not.” Bucky agreed reaching out to place his hands on the doors.

“So are we getting the fuck out of here before we fall to our deaths?” Clint asked.

“Yeah, let's do that, fuck standing by,” He pulled a knife from his pocket which he wedged between the doors and started to pry them open. “Help me would you?” 

Clint managed to fit his fingers in the gap Bucky made and between the two of them they managed to get the doors open. Unfortunately they were not aligned with the opening, there was only a foot or so of a gap at their feet, even if they managed to squeeze through there would be a drop to the floor. Which was all assuming the elevator didn’t move again.

They looked at the gap and then looked at each other.

“We go for it? Clint suggested and received a nod of assent from Bucky. 

They both stripped off their suit jackets and tossed them through the gap into the hallway below. Bucky went first, sitting and dangling his legs down before jumping the rest of the way, landing neatly in the hallway. He then turned to help Clint down, who was sitting with his feet through the gap, when the elevator lurched again.

“Aww fuck!” Clint shouted as he lept into the hallway just as the elevator dropped. He landed in a sprawl at Bucky's feet. 

“Oh my god are you okay?” Bucky knelt down and ran his hands over Clint’s body looking for broken bones. Clint groaned and propped himself up on one elbow.

“Yeah, I’m gonna be one giant bruise but I think I’ll be okay.” 

“Good, I was just starting to like you.”

“Like me or _like_ like me?” Clint asked with a wink.

“You're ridiculous.” Bucky laughed.

“Yup, but you totally _like_ me.”

“Yeah, I do.” Bucky sighed, his lips still curved in a smile.

Clint grinned up at Bucky.

“Nice.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **Standby** \- A "preparatory command" the order to standby alerts a unit that it will be receiving orders, indicating they should be ready and wait in that state of readiness until they do receive the incoming orders. Often troops find themselves waiting for long periods of time.
> 
>  **Hypervigilance** \- The experience of being constantly tense and "on guard." A person experiencing this symptom of PTSD will be motivated to maintain an increased awareness of their surrounding environment, frequently scanning their surroundings to identify potential sources of threat.
> 
>  **15 minutes prior to 15 minutes prior** \- [Max does a better job of explaining this than I ever could.](http://terminallance.com/2015/09/22/terminal-lance-gunny-timed-marine-corps-times/)
> 
>  **TAP** \- Transition Assistance Program. A mandatory series of classes a Marine must attend before leaving active service. The goal is to provide information, tools, and training to ensure service members are prepared for the next step in civilian life whether pursuing additional education, finding a job in the public or private sector, or starting their own business.
> 
> Come find me on [Tumblr ](http://mollynoble.tumblr.com/) :)


End file.
